Misfit Wearables Review 2017

MisFit are an exciting, innovative brand of fitness/activity tracker. They have introduced a style to the market that has elevated the fitness tracker to the level of fashion accessory. In this article we will delve into the world of Misfit. We’ll review the MisFit wearable range, giving you the knowledge you need to make an informed purchasing decision.

About Misfit

MisFit are an American wearable fitness monitor company. They have been operating since 2011. The company was founded on the day that Apple founder Steve Jobs died. The name ‘MisFit' was in honor of Jobs. In a 1997 advertisment, Apple had introduced the slogan . . .

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes."

MisFit’s first product, the Shine, was introduced in February 2013. This was simply a small disc like device with no strap or other wearable device. A month later a sports band was introduced for the Misfit Shine to clip into. In November, 2013, MisFit added a sports necklace to allow users to wear the device around their neck. A leather sports band was also introduced. In July, 2014 the Beddit sleep monitor was introduced. Metal mesh bands and a range of sports bands were introduced in the ensuing months.

​The MisFit Flash, a water resistant fitness wrist monitor, was released in November, 2014. Though lacking a heart rate monitor, the Flash was set at at an amazingly low price point.

​MisFit became a part of the Fossil group of companies in November, 2015. Since then they have released the MisFit Ray, a jewel like activity tracker and Specter Bluetooth earbuds. While still committed to providing the very best in stylish, elegant activity trackers, they have announced their intention to also move into home automation and smartphone controls.

MisFit Wearables Reviews

The MisFit ﻿﻿Shine Activity Monitor and Sleep Tracker is a small circular device. It snaps into a magnetic clasp which comes with the unit. It can be a little tricky to connect the clasp. It also comes with a black rubber band which the Shine can clip into. A range of other bands can also be purchased. The rubber bands do tend to be quite weak, with potential problems on the thin side strips. A Leather band, which you can pick up for about $30, is a far more sturdy option.

To activate the MisFit Shine you need to tap it. A double tap will bring up three dots to indicate the activity tracker. A triple tap brings up workout options, which range from swimming, golf, basketball, soccer and swimming.

The Shine comes with a small tool to allow you to remove the battery. This can be a little tricky to operate. The tracker is made out of a polished aluminum. On the back of the device is the MisFit logo as well as the number ‘12’ to help you to orient the device when placing it in the strap. The device is almost exactly the same size as a quarter, meaning that is extremely compact. It is about the thickness of three quarters stacked on top of one another. MisFit are going for a sleek, stylish, minimalistic look and they have certainly achieved it with this device. The bevel around the side of device is a shiny aluminum.

When you wear the Shine as a watch it looks very slim. The silicone rubber strap feels extremely comfortable. The strap which comes with the package has a cool matt black finish and has breathing holes between the strap and the device. The strap is very thin.

As well as being a fitness tracker, the Shine doubles as a watch. The first thing you’ll see when you double tap the device is the time. This is displayed by dots, rather than digits, which maintains the elegance of the device, but is not overly precise. The 11 dots around the outside of the device also allow you to track your activity goal progress. When you make progress toward your goal, more of these dots will light up. Double tapping will allow you to check your goal progress. Just like other fitness trackers, you set your goal for steps taken, calories burned, etc on the app on your mobile device.

When you triple tap the device, you will get flashing circles around the outside three times. That means that you are now logging a certain activity. This may be that you are about to go to sleep or engage in a fitness activity. The memory of the device will automatically tap in so that it begins tracking that activity.

The strap is secured by way of a clasp with fits through a hole to hold the device securely on your wrist. The silicone rubber material of the strap is water proof. In fact, the entire device is water proof. Not only can you wear it in the shower, but you can go swimming with the Shine on your wrist. It will track your laps as well as recording the number of calories you burn from swimming.

MisFit Shine vs FitBit: Unlike the FitBit, you do not have to charge the MisFit Shine. This is because the Shine has a disposable long life battery, similar to what you find in most modern watches. It will last up to 12 months, at which time you simply replace it.

Many people are wary of tap sensitivity bands because the responsiveness of the device is unpredictable. However, the Shine, along with the entire MisFit range, are extremely responsive. You should not have a problem in tap responsiveness when you invest in a MisFit product.

The MisFit Shine application is very simplistic. That’s a good thing as it allows you to navigate your way around easily and find easy to read, detailed data analysis. It will clearly display your goal settings and your achievement towards your goals. You can earn badges for reaching your goals and achieving other milestones. By hitting the moon icon at the top of the screen, you can analyse your sleep data. It will indicate how much REM sleep you managed to get and how restless you were throughout the night. You also have a weight tracker and social media options which allow you to set your profile and invite friends to participate in challenges with you.

​The Shine fitness tracker does not have to be worn as a wrist watch. By inserting the device into the magnetic clasp that comes with your purchase package, you can clip it onto your shirt, backpack, pants or anywhere else you wish.

The MisFit ﻿﻿Ray is a very simple, lightweight and attractive fitness tracker. It brands itself as a fitness and sleep monitor. It is powered for up to 6 months with 3 393 button cell batteries which comes with your purchase package.

Coming in at only 8 grams, the MisFit Ray is amazingly small and lightweight. It is so comfortable on the wrist that you don’t really even know that it is there. The overall design and build quality of the device is in keeping with MisFit’s goal to create fitness trackers that can be worn in other contexts besides just the gym. As a result you can wear the MisFit Ray with an assortment of different band and jewellery options. That allows you to wear the Ray in any context that you are comfortable with.

The standard sports plastic watch strap that the Ray is shipped with is not the best quality. It feels like a hard kind of brittle plastic and is not in keeping with the style of the actual device.

The MisFit Ray has all day tracking of your steps, distance, and calories burned. It also has sleep tracking which will track your awake time, your light sleep and your restful sleep. The device also has an LED indicator which will vibrate to alert you to an incoming call. It also has text alerts. The silent alarm feature will allow you be woken up without disturbing others by way of the vibrate feature.

The MisFit ﻿R﻿﻿ay is waterproof up to 5 meters. You will be able to wear it in the shower and take it swimming. The MisFit Ray does not have a built-in heart rate monitor. The lack of a heart rate tracker means that the accuracy of some data, such as sleep tracking, is not as good as a device that features heart rate monitoring.

​After working out, you can sync your MisFit Ray to the MisFit app. It will show you on a time graph where you have been the most active and burnt the most calories and when you have been the most inactive. The app will break down you activity as light, moderate or heavy activity. After you have worked out, you can go in and edit the activity and tag it with whatever specific exercise you were doing when it detected that you were active. The activity types are limited to swimming, cycling, basketball, soccer, tennis, running and default. That means that you are unable to tag things like weight lifting or cross training as that specific type of exercise.

​The MisFit Ray has a proprietary network they call points. You earn points by being more active. As you earn points you work toward the goal that you have set for yourself. Double tapping the Ray will bring up and LED light that will show you where you are in your goal progression.

​If you are inactive for too long ,the MisFit Move LED indicator light will flash and you will get a vibrating reminder to get active. The MisFit Ray with the plastic sports band option costs more than what you actually get with this product. The slightly more expensive FitBit Al﻿t﻿a has a lot more tracking features and is just as stylish as the MisFit Ray.

The ﻿﻿MisFit ﻿﻿Flash looks like a watch with crazy red flashing dots around the edges. However, the device can pop out to be worn with the magnetic clip on your belt or key chain. When you buy the Flash you get the actual round disc like device, the wrist band and the magnetic clip on device.

The Flash is water proof down to 30 meters. The watch battery will last up to 6 months. When you tap on the watch you will see the red dots which indicate your progress toward your goal achievement. When all the lights are blinking you have achieved you goal.

The Mis﻿Fit Flas﻿h comes in a range of funky colors. The wrist strap that comes with the tracker provides a snug, comfortable fit. The Flash will track your steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled, as well as sleep quality and duration. The device syncs with Bluetooth.

On the MisFit app you can add friends. You can also keep a tracking record of all your different specs and set different goals. You can also view all of your specifications with engaging, easy to read displays. While the app allows you to see your stats for a day, you are not able to zoom in for more specific detail. For example, it will show you how many calories you burnt throughout the day, but you are unable to zoom in and see how many you churned through in any given hour of the day.

The MisFit Flash, along with the rest of the MisFit range, doesn’t require any charging. This is a huge plus over many competitors which require you to manually plug their devices into charge very few days. The Flash is an accurate device that can be obtained at a great price point. On the downside, there is no on watch display, apart from the 12 LED lights around the edges. The MisFit app gives you a good overview of your activity but is not as detailed as it could be.

Conclusion

Our reviews of the three of the most popular MisFit products has revealed a common theme among MisFit ﻿Fi﻿tness Wearable﻿s. They all have great battery life, giving them an advantage over many of their competitors. They are very stylish and elegant. They are water proof and can be worn when showering or swimming. However, the MisFit range do not allow for on screen displays apart from a series of flashing dots. You not get text or call notifications. In addition, the level of data accessible on the application does not allow you to drill down to very much detail on your activity.

​If you are after an elegant, stylish fitness monitor that is water proof and does the basics well, MisFit will do a great job for you. However, if you are wanting a device with a more intensive analysis and greater feature capabilities, you will probably be better off checking out the Garmin or FitBit range. Another exciting option is the Polar range of trackers and watches. Click here to find out all you need to know about other popular fitness trackers as well.

Misfit Wearables Review 2017

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Who am I?

My name is Jim Roose. I'm a former competitive power lifter and gym owner. I've bought millions of dollars of fitness equipment over the last 20 years. This site is my way of giving back to the fitness community that's done so much for me. Every article on here is carefully researched and written by me. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

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